ROBERT R. GUGE Obituary Robert R. Guge, age 61, of Sleepy Hollow, passed away on Monday morning, November 11, 2013 surrounded by his family at the Alden Estates Healthcare Center in Barrington after a battle with a Brain Tumor. Bob was born in Elgin on August 19, 1952, the son of Roy and Vivian (nee Aldis) Guge. Bob was a life long resident of the Dundee area, a 1971 graduate of Dundee Community High School and a very active member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Elgin. On August 25, 1973, he married Jody Woods Bob was a very talented, renowned artesian and wood carver. Bob’s accomplishments include being the five time world champion of the Ward Foundation for Bird Carving and being the recipient of the Living Legend Life Time Achievement for Bird Carving. Bob’s work is displayed both in museums and private collections all over the world. Survivors include his beloved wife and best friend of 40 years: Jody. Their children: Seth (Kim), Joshua (Laura), Caleb (Erin), Jordan (Rich) Thiele, Asher (partner Ashley Meyer), Hannah and Joy. Bob is also survived by his grandchildren: Griffin, Jacob, Gavin, Kage, Skylar, Mya, Kaley, Carter, and Jackson. Bob was also looking forward to the birth of two additional grandchildren in March of 2014. Other survivors include his mother: Vivian Guge, his brother: Scott Guge, his sister: Lori (Chris Michelek) Guge, his in-laws: Elwood “Woody” and Shirley Woods, his sister-in-law: Kelly (Paul) Israel, his brother-in-law: Blake (Peggy) Woods as well as many nieces, nephews and countless good and faithful friends. Bob was preceded in death by his father: Roy, and son: Gabriel Woods Guge, his grandchildren the Thiele babies, and nephew: Taylor Youngen. Funeral Services will be held on […]

Bob passed this morning at 5:52am. His wife and many of his children were there by his side. He is no longer suffering and with the Lord now. Services will be this next weekend. Please check back at the website for more details later in the week.

This past week Bob started to have pain. On Thursday(last) , they started morphine as needed. He is barely able to speak and has his eye closed all the time. He is starting to cough up fluid from his lungs. Hospice reported today that they don’t think Bob has longer than 48 hours to live. Please pray for Bob and the family.

Bob is now on hospice care . He will remain at the Alden estates of barrington nursing home where hospice nurses will come each week and assess him, make sure he is comfortable and in as little pain as possible . Lately he hasn’t been able chew food , he has been on a soft diet . Bob’s appetite has decreased significantly . He is very tired and not as alert anymore . In the past week he has declined a lot . He gets confused and can still remember things but he has a hard time focusing . Please pray for comfort , peace and strength for Bob and our family . I think it would still mean a lot to see him because we aren’t sure how long he has, could be days , weeks, months . The nurses usually can gauge each week when they assess him . Of course The Lord is capable of so much , but our days are numbered and God is still faithful .

Hello everyone, My dad was transferred from Northwestern to the Alden Estates of Barrington about two weeks ago.His doctors at Northwestern wanted to do some more procedures but my family thought it was best that he be closer to home and decided that it would be too much for him at this point. It seems like he is being very well taken care of at the Alden Estates Nursing Home and it is beautiful there. Last week he had to go to the ER ( Good Shepherd in Barrington) that was pretty close to the nursing home due to him fainting and vomiting. He was there for a couple of days and then sent back to the nursing home where he is currently. The past few days he has been alert, awake and pretty talkative. Nothing has been decided for certain in regards to hospice yet, but there have been talks that it is the next step. He is a very strong guy, and still has kept a pretty jolly attitude. He loves when people visit him. He has also regained movement on his left side! Which is a blessing in and of itself. Even though this has been a hard season, we can praise God for all blessings and for the special moments we have been able to share with him.

After the family met with Bob’s doctors on Monday, the treatment is as follows- The doctor wants him to get a vastin (another procedure )which would be in about a month. The tumor actually did not move to his left side like we had thought but the tumor was pressing on his supplementary motor area and that is a lot of the reason he can’t move his left side . He will have an MRI August 27th and if things look good and the tumor hasn’t grown back they will still most likely do the vaccine or the vaccine and vastin. His surgeon said he won’t get back to his full self again but back to what he was before removing this last tumor , he said he would be “delighted” if he could get back walking . Obviously everyone is different in regards to recovering and regaining previous motor skills and such but he said he will recover something but not sure exactly how much he will regain. Bob was moved back to The Rehab Institute of Chicago on Saturday, August 10. This morning, the nurses had a tough time completely waking Bob up. His heart rate was high and he was having a tough time breathing. He was extremely lethargic. They believe he has one or more blood blot(s). They rushed him back to the ER at Northwestern. I will be updating again as soon as we know more…. Bob has really been struggling with depression lately. A few days after the surgery he came to the realization that he may never be able to carve again. We ask that you pray for strength and encouragement for Bob! Also, Bob’s birthday is Monday, […]

todays tests revealed 8 clots, 5 in the lungs and 3 in his legs. They decided to do a CT scan to help them decide whether to treat him witha blood thinner (heparin) or do a filter for his leg clots. The filter is supposed to prevent the clots from moving to his heart or brain. The clots in the lungs were ones that moved from another part of his body to his lungs. They just decided to treat with Heparin. They will start tonight! Bob is at Northwestern in ICU unit in Chicago. Thanks for all your letters, e-mails, phone calls, and prayers thus far! Keep them coming!

Bob was transferred to a rehab facility two days ago. They just let Jody know that they were taking him back to the Northwestern ER due to shortness of breath they believe there could be blood clots in his lungs and blood clots in both legs. We also recently were told that if he doesn’t regain feeling on his left side he may not be able to participate in the vaccine study, which is one of the reasons he went ahead with this surgery on the first place. Prayers are needed. We are,as always, forever greatful.

The surgery was scheduled last minute to be changed from Monday morning at 7:30 to Tuesday morning at 7:30 (July 30). So the surgery was yesterday. The doctors had to make a larger cut (from ear to ear over the top of his head) to remove the tumor. The doctors reported after the surgery that they were able to remove the tumor successfully and that it was about 5 centimeters in size. They also said that we should expect a lot of weakness on the left side of his body. They were not sure how much strength he would ever gain back. Right now he can’t move the left side of his body. He is very responsive and his memory seems to be fine . The doctors were pleased with the follow-up MRI they viewed this morning and how he was responding. For the rest of the day yesterday and today, he has been in the ICU. And he will most likely be transferred to another room in the ‘step down’ unit, which is between an ICU and a regular room tonight or tomorrow. Bob should be at Northwestern Memorial in Chicago for most of the week and then they plan to move him to a rehabilitation facility before sending him home. Thank you everyone for your support, encouragement and prayer.

The surgery was cleared by the hospital board. Bob is schedule for surgery for 7:30am Monday July 29th, 2013. The hospital has a new doctor, Dr. Parsa who will be assisting his Dr. Raizor during the surgery. Dr. Parsa is the doctor who created the new treatment for the vaccine trail that will be a large part of this surgery. Bob will be the first patient to begin this new trial. They plan for him to be at the hospital for a couple days after the surgery and most likely sent to another hospital for physical therapy before returning home. The doctors are very hopeful in this new treatment. They say this is not a cure, but should extend Bob’s quality of life. (hoping for 1-3 years) Bob does have swelling on both sides of his brain. Last Monday, tests showed that swelling was on the right side of his brain, where his current tumor is. The tests also showed that concentrated cancer cells have spread across to the left side of his brain from the area of the tumor on the right side. On Tuesday night, Bob suffered another seizure and was sent to the hospital after. The tests then revealed that swelling was also swelling on the left side of his brain. Dr. Raizor informed Jody that it is possible that Bob could have more seizures before the surgery on Monday. At this point, there is nothing anyone can do between now and the surgery on Monday. They say that the surgery on Monday will help relieve pressure on his brain and help with the swelling. Bob has not been able to work since the end of April. If he has contacted any […]